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Pray for Fey
What if someone close to you died and you desperately wanted to believe that one day you would see them again in an afterlife - but the society you are brought up in and its culture, has no knowledge of an afterlife and denies its very existence?
Following the tragic death of her sister, Fey (a young idealistic fairy) is determined to prove that there is an afterlife for fairies - something which fairies have always denied the existence of. Not only is Fey prepared to sacrifice love in order to search for her spiritual identity but, more astonishingly and at great personal cost to herself, she breaks with years of fairy convention and turns to human beings for guidance and commits herself to their God in the hope of being granted a soul and eternal life in heaven.
Pray for Fey is a deeply moving fairy tale set in the late nineteenth century, in rural Brittany, France. It is a tragic love story that truly touches the heart and reveals what really happens to fairies after they die.
Following the tragic death of her sister, Fey (a young idealistic fairy) is determined to prove that there is an afterlife for fairies - something which fairies have always denied the existence of. Not only is Fey prepared to sacrifice love in order to search for her spiritual identity but, more astonishingly and at great personal cost to herself, she breaks with years of fairy convention and turns to human beings for guidance and commits herself to their God in the hope of being granted a soul and eternal life in heaven.
Pray for Fey is a deeply moving fairy tale set in the late nineteenth century, in rural Brittany, France. It is a tragic love story that truly touches the heart and reveals what really happens to fairies after they die.
- GenresFantasy
140 pages, Paperback
First published June 19, 2012
1 person is currently reading
292 people want to read
About the author
Mark Woollacott
11 books9 followersIn February 2012, Mark independently published his first play, Love Sings like the Nightingale. This was soon followed by his novel, Pray for Fey, which was published in the same year. His second published novel, Turning Snowflakes into Snowdrops, was released in 2013.
Says Mark: “There has always been a number of themes which have been of interest to me on a creative and inspirational level, and these are the themes of beauty, divine love and spirituality. In some ways, these themes have acted as a foundation - and an important catalyst - which steered and guided my creativity. Such themes have the power to inspire. Creativity fulfils such an important need in society - it makes an impression on so many levels.”
During the latter part of 2017, Mark became inspired to write a book about his spiritual experiences and beliefs. This book (published in June 2020) is entitled A Beautiful Reality. The manuscript underwent many changes in its evolution. It was during the writing process of this book that he experienced what is known as “inspired writing” – a form of writing that arises from a higher state of conscious awareness. These inspired passages of text are also found in Mark’s book Love Would Say. This experience was completely new to him – and also quite unexpected! Inspired writing doesn't involve meditating or going into some sort of religious trance-like state, nor is it the same thing as “free writing” or “automatic writing”; rather it happens when the writer is fully conscious and alert, like an immediate flow of thoughts in the mind, beautiful, almost poetic at times. The only way to describe the difference between inspired writing and ordinary everyday creative writing, is that inspired writing genuinely seems to carry a “greater spiritual truth” in the words that are coming through into the conscious mind, and feels very natural and peaceful when it occurs – the words are already there for the author, they are simply and gratefully received, but never constructed consciously!
Says Mark: “Inspired writing is but another part of the journey for me, as a writer. I hope my inspired books will be helpful and engaging for readers.”
In November 2020, Mark published a 168-page book entitled, Dream of Peace, Be at Peace. This motivational book helps readers to cope with issues such as depression, bereavement, loneliness, unemployment, stress, anxiety etc. Each chapter deals with a different issue and encourages the reader to take back their own personal power of action and cultivate greater confidence and peace, in order to move forward positively in life.
Says Mark: “There has always been a number of themes which have been of interest to me on a creative and inspirational level, and these are the themes of beauty, divine love and spirituality. In some ways, these themes have acted as a foundation - and an important catalyst - which steered and guided my creativity. Such themes have the power to inspire. Creativity fulfils such an important need in society - it makes an impression on so many levels.”
During the latter part of 2017, Mark became inspired to write a book about his spiritual experiences and beliefs. This book (published in June 2020) is entitled A Beautiful Reality. The manuscript underwent many changes in its evolution. It was during the writing process of this book that he experienced what is known as “inspired writing” – a form of writing that arises from a higher state of conscious awareness. These inspired passages of text are also found in Mark’s book Love Would Say. This experience was completely new to him – and also quite unexpected! Inspired writing doesn't involve meditating or going into some sort of religious trance-like state, nor is it the same thing as “free writing” or “automatic writing”; rather it happens when the writer is fully conscious and alert, like an immediate flow of thoughts in the mind, beautiful, almost poetic at times. The only way to describe the difference between inspired writing and ordinary everyday creative writing, is that inspired writing genuinely seems to carry a “greater spiritual truth” in the words that are coming through into the conscious mind, and feels very natural and peaceful when it occurs – the words are already there for the author, they are simply and gratefully received, but never constructed consciously!
Says Mark: “Inspired writing is but another part of the journey for me, as a writer. I hope my inspired books will be helpful and engaging for readers.”
In November 2020, Mark published a 168-page book entitled, Dream of Peace, Be at Peace. This motivational book helps readers to cope with issues such as depression, bereavement, loneliness, unemployment, stress, anxiety etc. Each chapter deals with a different issue and encourages the reader to take back their own personal power of action and cultivate greater confidence and peace, in order to move forward positively in life.
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Displaying 1 - 8 of 8 reviews
November 6, 2012
Pray for Fey is a charming little book written in a lovely style. The idea presented - an exploration of whether fairies have souls - is an interesting concept, and Woollacott's description of fairies as natural creatures with heightened physical abilities of speed and agility and a strong affinity to the woods, but no magical powers or wings, is intriguing. The scenes and settings are described beautifully, with such attention to detail that I felt as though I was walking there with the characters.
The main character, a young female fairy named Fey, desperately wants to know whether fairies have souls and can therefore participate in the afterlife. The event that incites her quest to discover this is the death of her sister and her desire to eventually be reunited with her. Fey's character-- and indeed that of all the fairies shown-- is sweet, obedient, kind and generous. Unfortunately this soon becomes rather cloying and I began to wish she'd show a little more spirit, or at least some common sense.
In the Victorian spirit of The Little Princess, a book intended to encourage young girls to be meek, obedient and self-sacrificing, Fey becomes the willing and uncomplaining slave of the nasty humans who take advantage of her. I expect that this is intended to show that her brand of meek, martyrdom Christianity is better than their selfish and hypocritical profession of Christianity.
(SPOILER ALERT) I kept waiting for Fey to save herself, or for her silly parents and friend Ferdin to rescue her, but in an unsatisfying ending, they all, including Fey, passively allow the humans to destroy her. Most frustrating of all, her sacrifice is completely unnecessary. If self-sacrifice were a necessary requirement to her gaining a soul, and because of her unflagging faith and selflessness, she proved that all fairies were worthy of being given souls, and thereby brought this great gift to her race, it would be worth it. But this is not the case. When she dies, God merely chides her by saying, "of course fairies have souls, they always have had them." Her "sacrifice" therefore has had no effect other than to waste her life needlessly and bring grief to her parents and Ferdin, all in the name of a quest for something that turned out to already be in her pocket.
So much more could have been done with this material. The world so meticulously and charmingly drawn in the first half of the book is abandoned. There is no growth to Fey's character, or that of any character in the book, and no exploration or reflection on the complexity of faith or the nature of souls.
The main character, a young female fairy named Fey, desperately wants to know whether fairies have souls and can therefore participate in the afterlife. The event that incites her quest to discover this is the death of her sister and her desire to eventually be reunited with her. Fey's character-- and indeed that of all the fairies shown-- is sweet, obedient, kind and generous. Unfortunately this soon becomes rather cloying and I began to wish she'd show a little more spirit, or at least some common sense.
In the Victorian spirit of The Little Princess, a book intended to encourage young girls to be meek, obedient and self-sacrificing, Fey becomes the willing and uncomplaining slave of the nasty humans who take advantage of her. I expect that this is intended to show that her brand of meek, martyrdom Christianity is better than their selfish and hypocritical profession of Christianity.
(SPOILER ALERT) I kept waiting for Fey to save herself, or for her silly parents and friend Ferdin to rescue her, but in an unsatisfying ending, they all, including Fey, passively allow the humans to destroy her. Most frustrating of all, her sacrifice is completely unnecessary. If self-sacrifice were a necessary requirement to her gaining a soul, and because of her unflagging faith and selflessness, she proved that all fairies were worthy of being given souls, and thereby brought this great gift to her race, it would be worth it. But this is not the case. When she dies, God merely chides her by saying, "of course fairies have souls, they always have had them." Her "sacrifice" therefore has had no effect other than to waste her life needlessly and bring grief to her parents and Ferdin, all in the name of a quest for something that turned out to already be in her pocket.
So much more could have been done with this material. The world so meticulously and charmingly drawn in the first half of the book is abandoned. There is no growth to Fey's character, or that of any character in the book, and no exploration or reflection on the complexity of faith or the nature of souls.
October 27, 2012
I received this book for free through the Goodreads First Reads, and here is my opinion about it.
My rating: 4.5 stars
This fairytale tells the story of Fey, who is part of a wingless kind of fairies and possesses only limited magical abilities. After the death of her sister, Fey eagerly wants to meet her in another existence, but her kind has no knowledge of an afterlife. Therefore, she searches for religious guidance among the human beings, and she finds it in Samuel, an old priest who teaches her about God. Samuel offers her understanding and acceptance, but after his death, she asks Mr. Reville, Samuel's nephew, to help her continue her Christian studies. Life in the Revilles' house turns out to be difficult and miserable for Fey, but her faith grows stronger with every pain that she endures. She chooses to sacrifice her love and the desire to meet her family in order to prove her trust to God and be granted a soul. It is a touching and heartbreaking fairy tale.
Besides the story itself, the book also gives a lesson about the right understanding of religion. The fairies don't have a religion, but their feelings are pure and strong. They are kind one with each other and their attitude to nature is deeply respectful. That makes them more worthy of an afterlife than the Revilles, who are close-minded, full of selfishness and prejudices.
One day, I was reading this book at school and a friend asked me: "What does the title mean? Is it Pray for faith?" Then I realized how the name of Fey sounds so much like "faith" and how suggestive it is for her condition. The word "fey" is also used to describe someone fated to die soon.
I expected to have some difficulties in reading this book, considering the fact that I am not a native English speaker, but it was not like that. It is an easy and captivating reading, suitable for all ages. Although it took me a long time to read it, due to a lack of time, you could easily read it in a few hours.
My favorite part of the book consists of the first 40 pages, in which Fey's idyllic life in the forest is described. It gave me a feeling of peace and warmth, also helping me find again the excitement of a child readingfairy tales. I really wish it would have been longer. Afterwards, the book becomes really sad, and it made my eyes teary; I thought Fey's sufferings were never going to end.
The end, however, was a bit disappointing. I expected the author to prove the existence of an afterlife in a somewhat
thoughtful, philosophical manner. I didn't want it to be so revealing, but to make me reflect on religion and on the existence of an afterlife. But, leaving this aside, I think Pray for Fey is a great book from which we can draw lessons.
My rating: 4.5 stars
This fairytale tells the story of Fey, who is part of a wingless kind of fairies and possesses only limited magical abilities. After the death of her sister, Fey eagerly wants to meet her in another existence, but her kind has no knowledge of an afterlife. Therefore, she searches for religious guidance among the human beings, and she finds it in Samuel, an old priest who teaches her about God. Samuel offers her understanding and acceptance, but after his death, she asks Mr. Reville, Samuel's nephew, to help her continue her Christian studies. Life in the Revilles' house turns out to be difficult and miserable for Fey, but her faith grows stronger with every pain that she endures. She chooses to sacrifice her love and the desire to meet her family in order to prove her trust to God and be granted a soul. It is a touching and heartbreaking fairy tale.
Besides the story itself, the book also gives a lesson about the right understanding of religion. The fairies don't have a religion, but their feelings are pure and strong. They are kind one with each other and their attitude to nature is deeply respectful. That makes them more worthy of an afterlife than the Revilles, who are close-minded, full of selfishness and prejudices.
One day, I was reading this book at school and a friend asked me: "What does the title mean? Is it Pray for faith?" Then I realized how the name of Fey sounds so much like "faith" and how suggestive it is for her condition. The word "fey" is also used to describe someone fated to die soon.
I expected to have some difficulties in reading this book, considering the fact that I am not a native English speaker, but it was not like that. It is an easy and captivating reading, suitable for all ages. Although it took me a long time to read it, due to a lack of time, you could easily read it in a few hours.
My favorite part of the book consists of the first 40 pages, in which Fey's idyllic life in the forest is described. It gave me a feeling of peace and warmth, also helping me find again the excitement of a child readingfairy tales. I really wish it would have been longer. Afterwards, the book becomes really sad, and it made my eyes teary; I thought Fey's sufferings were never going to end.
The end, however, was a bit disappointing. I expected the author to prove the existence of an afterlife in a somewhat
thoughtful, philosophical manner. I didn't want it to be so revealing, but to make me reflect on religion and on the existence of an afterlife. But, leaving this aside, I think Pray for Fey is a great book from which we can draw lessons.
November 9, 2012
I won this book on goodreads from firstreads. It was a very short read, however, jammed packed with emotion and constant activity. Fey the main character has a few powers and no wings, and want's to reach lost loved ones. So fey chooses to seek help for this matter and in turn gets a better gift with finding a relationship with god. I loved this book even though it was short ir was stil complete. I was left with closure and no wonder. I rate this book 4 stars, and would highly recommend this book to everyone!
May 10, 2013
This book at first I was rather unsure of however I can't explain how much this book is so touching and amazing. The book was written so beautifully and the emotions within were so profound that I felt myself moved to tears. In all honesty, I did not expect this. The idea of religion annoyed me and I was annoyed that the character left the forest. However the execution of the story was so good that I could not help bit give this tale 5 stars.
June 8, 2020
I won this book in First Reads contest from Goodreads.com
I'm not a native speaker. I'm from Spain and currently studying English by myself.
Pray for Fey doesn't have your usual fairies, in common folklore fairies have wings, they are short and can use magic to some extent. Fairies in this book, however, are depicted as human-like creatures, they have no wings, their ears are pointy and they have dark-green markings around their eyes, the only magic they can use is withdraw their nourishment from plants and flowers.
The first third of Pray for Fey introduces us to the faerie folk's beliefs. Fey looses her sister and tries to find answers about the afterlife, answers that her kin can't answer. All the fairies believe in it's the cycle of life and death, living and returning to the earth once they perish. She seeks her answers on human's beliefs, she befriends a priest, who teaches her about Christianism and what it means to have a soul.
(SPOILERS AHEAD)
From this point on the book becomes rather dull, I expected a different approach on the matter, all I got was a Cinderella-like phase of her life, living with a family that treats her as a servant and doesn't care about her.
Fei doesn't have any contact with flowers for weeks, so she ends up starving and dying because of malnutrition. This whole self-sacrifice aspect, staying in a house with people who treated her like an animal, only to receive teachings about the bible (which she got none while in the house) was pretty dissappointing, she could have been more decisive in this matter and either return home or get some food by herself.
The ending part, the whole "everyone goes to heaven" concept didn't quite fit the feeling I got of the book when I started reading it. If her sister, who didn't even know that God, the Christianism, or anything related to it existed, went to heaven because she was a good person, then what's the point on Fey self-sacrifice? Why did she have to throw her only life for the purpose of reaching Heaven? She didn't even have to do that, if she lived normally on the forest with her family and boyfriend she would have gotten to Heaven anyways, by only being a good person, God didn't need any worshiping.
The end was a bit too common for my tastes, at first I thought I was gonna read something different about the whole "going to Heaven" matter, but in the end it was just another "be a good person and you will go to Heaven no matter what".
I liked the first third of the book, it was really moving how she tried to deal with her feelings towards the dead of a loved one. The second party (moving in with the humans) was pretty boring, I expected more of her character, not only submission and hope for changes. The third part (when she's starting to realize she's dying) felt a bit weird, specially when she died, I didn't know what would come of the next chapters, it could either be her reviving, a faeries Heaven or what we got, a whole Heaven full of fairys, humans and maybe more folklore beings that people didn't even know of. I just hope the author didn't have in mind to allow "Madame" Reville to go to heaven, she and her family are unworthy human beings and deserve only to suffer.
I'm not a native speaker. I'm from Spain and currently studying English by myself.
Pray for Fey doesn't have your usual fairies, in common folklore fairies have wings, they are short and can use magic to some extent. Fairies in this book, however, are depicted as human-like creatures, they have no wings, their ears are pointy and they have dark-green markings around their eyes, the only magic they can use is withdraw their nourishment from plants and flowers.
The first third of Pray for Fey introduces us to the faerie folk's beliefs. Fey looses her sister and tries to find answers about the afterlife, answers that her kin can't answer. All the fairies believe in it's the cycle of life and death, living and returning to the earth once they perish. She seeks her answers on human's beliefs, she befriends a priest, who teaches her about Christianism and what it means to have a soul.
(SPOILERS AHEAD)
From this point on the book becomes rather dull, I expected a different approach on the matter, all I got was a Cinderella-like phase of her life, living with a family that treats her as a servant and doesn't care about her.
Fei doesn't have any contact with flowers for weeks, so she ends up starving and dying because of malnutrition. This whole self-sacrifice aspect, staying in a house with people who treated her like an animal, only to receive teachings about the bible (which she got none while in the house) was pretty dissappointing, she could have been more decisive in this matter and either return home or get some food by herself.
The ending part, the whole "everyone goes to heaven" concept didn't quite fit the feeling I got of the book when I started reading it. If her sister, who didn't even know that God, the Christianism, or anything related to it existed, went to heaven because she was a good person, then what's the point on Fey self-sacrifice? Why did she have to throw her only life for the purpose of reaching Heaven? She didn't even have to do that, if she lived normally on the forest with her family and boyfriend she would have gotten to Heaven anyways, by only being a good person, God didn't need any worshiping.
The end was a bit too common for my tastes, at first I thought I was gonna read something different about the whole "going to Heaven" matter, but in the end it was just another "be a good person and you will go to Heaven no matter what".
I liked the first third of the book, it was really moving how she tried to deal with her feelings towards the dead of a loved one. The second party (moving in with the humans) was pretty boring, I expected more of her character, not only submission and hope for changes. The third part (when she's starting to realize she's dying) felt a bit weird, specially when she died, I didn't know what would come of the next chapters, it could either be her reviving, a faeries Heaven or what we got, a whole Heaven full of fairys, humans and maybe more folklore beings that people didn't even know of. I just hope the author didn't have in mind to allow "Madame" Reville to go to heaven, she and her family are unworthy human beings and deserve only to suffer.
October 29, 2012
Disclosure: I received this book for free as part of a contest.
I was intrigued by this book for it's main concept; the question of whether faerie folk have a soul. It's an interesting concept in mythology and one writers like Neil Gaiman have dealt with. I was curious about how Woollacott would approach this idea.
It starts off promising: Fey, a young fairy, is devastated by the loss of her sister. Faerie folk have no concept of an afterlife, and Fey, being unable to accept this, approaches humanity, primarily the church. She meets and elderly priest, and tries to learn whether faeries have souls and what she needs to do to see her sister in the afterlife.
Unfortunately, things happen that cut this exploration short. And that's the real problem with this book; it's well-written, and nice, but any attempts at exploring what it means to have a soul, the point of what Fey wants, gets cut short. That results in the creation of a shallow story. It's nice, with the characters being distinct, and an interesting take on faeries (they don't have wings or real magic, but have heightened agility and senses, and need contact with the forests to survive), but the reasons characters act the way they do are usually addressed in a single sentence "Person A thinks Fey is horrid and not worthy of salvation". The concept of a soul is almost glossed over, and the afterlife is pretty short too. Granted, the book is pretty short, but I feel there was a deeper and much stronger story in here that wasn't let out.
I was intrigued by this book for it's main concept; the question of whether faerie folk have a soul. It's an interesting concept in mythology and one writers like Neil Gaiman have dealt with. I was curious about how Woollacott would approach this idea.
It starts off promising: Fey, a young fairy, is devastated by the loss of her sister. Faerie folk have no concept of an afterlife, and Fey, being unable to accept this, approaches humanity, primarily the church. She meets and elderly priest, and tries to learn whether faeries have souls and what she needs to do to see her sister in the afterlife.
Unfortunately, things happen that cut this exploration short. And that's the real problem with this book; it's well-written, and nice, but any attempts at exploring what it means to have a soul, the point of what Fey wants, gets cut short. That results in the creation of a shallow story. It's nice, with the characters being distinct, and an interesting take on faeries (they don't have wings or real magic, but have heightened agility and senses, and need contact with the forests to survive), but the reasons characters act the way they do are usually addressed in a single sentence "Person A thinks Fey is horrid and not worthy of salvation". The concept of a soul is almost glossed over, and the afterlife is pretty short too. Granted, the book is pretty short, but I feel there was a deeper and much stronger story in here that wasn't let out.
December 17, 2012
The story of the fairy and the forest where she comes from, and then her wanting to be amongst the humans, is interesting. However the story of how the humans treated Fey was just a morbid Cinderella story. I didn't really sympathize with Fey for the mistreatment by the Revilles because she continually chose to stay there, so it was her own dumb fault. I guess I just would have rather enjoyed her life in the forest than make the decision she did. The ending was very dull - just the generic entering heaven story, so not much to look forward to.
Overall, it was a quick read and although it wasn't one of the best books I read this year, it was a nice change up of plot with the historic, European fairy tale setting.
*disclaimer* I won this book through the Goodreads First Reads Giveaway, but my review is 100% honest
Overall, it was a quick read and although it wasn't one of the best books I read this year, it was a nice change up of plot with the historic, European fairy tale setting.
*disclaimer* I won this book through the Goodreads First Reads Giveaway, but my review is 100% honest
November 15, 2012
first reads giveaway
Displaying 1 - 8 of 8 reviews